


am i too close for comfort

by likewinning



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Retail, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 21:42:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8464021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likewinning/pseuds/likewinning
Summary: "We could help, Harvey."





	

Jason's gotten kind of used to Harvey showing up unannounced, looking like he's gotten in a fight with himself. Tonight he's talking a mile a minute, pacing around the music room while Bruce sets up.

"Harvey," Bruce says.

"And then," Harvey says. "And then they gave me this look like they didn't even know who I _was_ anymore."

"Harv," Bruce says again. He comes around the drumset to touch Harvey's wrist and Harvey stops, blinks, and looks from Bruce to Jason like he forgot where he was, what he was doing.

"Hey man," Jason says. He's parked on the floor against the wall, legs spread out in front of him. He worked a double today because Harley forgot she was at the Disney Store tonight and he's exhausted, ready to do nothing but close his eyes and listen to Bruce and Harvey play.

They do this all the time now. At first it was once a week when Bruce could make time, but any time Harvey drops in, they come up here. Harvey seems to feel a little safer in here; the mania seems to drop down as soon as Bruce counts him in. When they play, Jason sees hints of who Harvey was before. He'll look over and grin at Jason, that old rockstar persona making its reappearance, and Jason feels a little shiver run across his skin.

He dug some of the old pictures out not too long ago. Polaroids someone took of all of them, Harvey in tight tight jeans and ripped t-shirts, howling into a microphone next to Diana, climbing onto Bruce's drumset in the middle of a gig. There's ones, too, of all of them on the tour bus, Bruce asleep in Harvey's arms.

Jason thinks maybe he should feel jealous, but he doesn't really. Not at all.

"Harvey," Jason says now. "Did you eat today?" Harvey's shaking, is the thing, mouth tremoring each time it moves, like if he's not careful he'll vibrate right out of his skin.

"Dunno," Harvey says. "What's today? Wednesday? I don't think…"

"Harv," Bruce says, frowning. "Let's get you something."

"No," Harvey says. He shakes his head. "No, I'll - later, right? Let's just play."

"I can make you something," Jason offers, and Harvey looks over at him.

"Sorry," Harvey says. He grabs his guitar and slings the strap around his neck. "Sorry, I - ha. I'm not uh. I'm not taking very good care of myself, am I?"

Bruce shakes his head, pulls Harvey in and kisses his cheek. Harvey's eyes shut for just a second and he leans into it. "Nothing new there though, huh?"

"Nah," Harvey says. He grins at Bruce, then looks back down at Jason. "Thanks, kid. I promise I'll eat after we play."

Jason doesn't bother correcting him about _kid_ , just flips him off. Bruce laughs and says, "Come on. We can't keep our audience waiting."

They play some of their old stuff first. Jason sits on the floor and watches them both, the way even with an audience of one Harvey gives everything, stomps around and lets his voice crack. Jason meets Bruce's eyes more than a few times and Jason's face heats up when Harvey starts to sweat, when he brings his t-shirt up to his face to wipe himself off. Bruce pounds on the drums and the room vibrates and Jason's heart pounds for all of it.

When Harvey starts playing the slow stuff, the new songs he's been working on, Jason ducks out of the room to heat him up something for dinner.

 

*

 

Later on, when Bruce and Jason are sitting at the dinner table while Harvey shovels forkfuls of fetuccini alfredo into his mouth like a man who's been starved, Jason looks over at Harvey and says, "You could stay here, you know."

Harvey looks up at them, and Jason hears Bruce take a breath. "Huh?" Harvey asks.

"I mean," Jason stammers. Bruce squeezes his leg under the table, and Jason starts over. "You were saying before, about how you're bad at taking care of yourself. We could. We could help, Harvey."

Bruce nods. He rubs the back of Jason's neck, and Jason leans into the warmth of his touch. "Jay's right, Harvey. It could just be until…"

"Until what, Bruce?" Harvey asks. He sets his fork down, wipes his face with his napkin. "Until all the bugs in my head crawl right back out?"

"Harv," Bruce says.

Harvey's face scrunches up, somewhere between laughing and crying, and then it levels out and he looks at Jason. "You don't want to deal with this, man. Ask Bruce. Bruce _knows_."

"I do," Bruce says. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to help."

Harvey stares at them. His leg jiggles up and down under the table, making the ice in his glass shift with each upward movement. "I," Harvey says. "Are you _sure_?" he asks, and Jason knows he's mostly asking _him_.

"Yeah," Jason says. He wasn't, not really, not until a minute ago, but he knows Harvey needs people. Needs _Bruce._ And -

"Yeah," Jason says. "I'm sure."

"Okay," Harvey says. He lets out the breath he's been holding and his leg goes still and he picks up his fork. He points the fork at both of them and says, "But don't say I didn't warn you."

 

*

 

"You're amazing," Bruce tells Jason later that night, when they're alone in their bedroom. Jason's already in bed, texting Dick because, as he said, Dick watched the _Lord of the Rings_ movies and couldn't figure out what Harry Potter was doing in them. Apparently Dick forgets sometimes that the internet exists.

"Why's that?" Jason asks. He puts his phone down on the nightstand, and Bruce gets into bed next to him.

"Harvey," Bruce says. They set him up in one of the guest rooms down the hall, not too far from them in case he needs anything. "You didn't have to do that."

"I know," Jason says. He shrugs. "But it's Harvey, man. That's your person. And I…"

"Hm?" Bruce asks, and Jason shakes his head.

"Nothing," he says. He grabs his book off the nightstand and Bruce does the same, but less than five minutes later, Jason asks, "Was he always so intense when he's playing?"

Bruce looks over at him. His hair is still damp from the shower and he still has little flecks of eyeliner under his eyes. "Always," Bruce says. "Even when we were kids and he just had that beat up acoustic, he'd play so loud you could hear him across the campus courtyard."

"Mm," Jason says. He closes his book and tosses it back on the nightstand, then gets on top of Bruce, straddling him. "Watching you," Jason tells him. "It's too much sometimes."

Bruce reaches for Jason's t-shirt and pulls it over his head. "Both of us?" he asks, and Jason ducks his head and blushes, but he nods.

"Yeah," Jason says. He squirms, grinding down against Bruce, and Bruce groans. "I. I guess I kinda get it, you know?"

"Do you now," Bruce says. He puts his hands on Jason's hips and Jason breathes in sharply, falls forward and kisses him hard, licks into Bruce's mouth. Bruce bites Jason's bottom lip and rolls them over, gets between Jason's legs and pushes his boxers down. Jason scrambles out of them, impatient.

"After shows," Bruce says, biting Jason's jaw, licking against the shell of his ear. "There'd be this line of girls looking for the two of us, but Harvey would drag me away, right back onto the tour bus and fuck me so hard everyone could hear us."

"Jesus," Jason whimpers. He digs his nails into Bruce's shoulder and Bruce reaches for the bottle of lube on the nightstand, squeezes some onto his fingers and slides two between Jason's legs. "Fuck," Jason says.

"Sometimes," Bruce says. "Sometimes before shows, he'd fill me up so good I could barely sit on the drum seat. And," he says. He twists his fingers inside Jason and Jason grabs at his hair, gets his legs all wrapped around him. "And he'd look over at me when we were on stage and he'd grin because he just _knew_."

"God," Jason pants. "God, Bruce, get _in_ me."

"Mm," Bruce agrees. He moves back just long enough to strip off his boxers and then he throws Jason's legs over his shoulders and pushes _in_. 

"Couldn't stand it," Jason says. "Watching you play, not having you. Just - just wanted to -"

"Tell me," Bruce says. He thrusts hard, squeezing Jason's ass as he does, and it takes Jason a minute to get his breath back enough to say, "Wanted to blow you right there."

Bruce groans, leans forward to bite Jason's collar bone. "What," Bruce says. He slows his thrusts just enough to make Jason scrabble for more. "What about Harvey?"

Jason's eyes look drunk and heavy when he meets his gaze. "I wanted him to _see_."

It's all a blur after that, Bruce fucking Jason hard enough to make the mattress springs squeak. Damian isn't here tonight and there's no reason to be quiet, no reason except Harvey a few doors down, and Harvey -

Jason comes on nothing but Bruce's dick, head thrown back and baring his neck for Bruce to mark up. Bruce doesn't last much longer, shouts Jason's name like a plea and collapses on top of him, sticky and sweaty.

After another shower for both of them, when they're back in bed, Jason lays his head against his chest. "He's gonna be okay, isn't he?"

Harvey still snores like thunder as far as Bruce knows, but it's after midnight and he still hasn't heard him. "He's here now," Bruce says. He can't let himself let him get his hopes up further than that. "We'll do everything we can."

 

*

 

The morning after Harvey moves in, Bruce comes down to the kitchen before the sun rises. It's been insane at the office lately, and he has to go in early today. When he gets to the kitchen Harvey is already there, wearing just his boxers and leaning against the counter while he reads the paper. There's a steaming cup of coffee next to him, and an unlit cigarette hangs from his mouth.

Bruce brushes past him to get to the coffee pot, stepping over discarded newspaper pages as he does. "That my paper you're dismantling?" Bruce asks, and Harvey shrugs.

"I saved you the funnies," Harvey says.

"Ass," Bruce says. He pours himself a cup of coffee into the travel cup Jason got him a while back, then winces when he takes a sip. Harvey always did make coffee like gasoline. "You sleep at all?"

Harvey looks up at him. There are dark circles under his eyes, and he hasn't shaved yet, but he doesn't look terrible tonight. "Got to bed around 3 maybe," Harvey says. "I was up reading that book Jason gave me. Couldn't put it down."

"Do I need to give you a curfew?" Bruce teases, and Harvey flips him off.

"Listen," Harvey says. He puts the paper down on the counter. "I need you to be really sure about all of this, Bruce. Because you know I - saying no to you, it's not -" he shuts his eyes and takes a breath.

"Harv," Bruce says. He moves to stand in front of Harvey, touches the gold cross around his neck. Harvey's been wearing it for as long as Bruce can remember, the only relic from Harvey's dead mother. Bruce got a whole house, a company, but Harvey -

"This is where you're supposed to be," Bruce says. He leans forward and kisses Harvey's forehead, breathes in smoke and Harvey's cologne. "Trust me on that one, okay?"

As if he heard it, Prince comes trotting into the kitchen and paws at Harvey's leg. Harvey looks down and laughs. "Hey little guy," he says. "You gonna go to work with your pop?"

Bruce snorts. "I'm surprised Jason hasn't carried him into work yet."

"Only because Dick would _steal_ him," Jason says, walking into the kitchen bleary-eyed and yawning. "Is there coffee? Tell me there's coffee."

"Harvey made it," Bruce says.

"Thank _god_ ," Jason says. He scoops Prince up into his arms, and Harvey pours him some coffee. Jason takes a swig and lets out a happy sigh. "Bruce makes this weak shit that's not fit to wake up a mouse."

Harvey laughs, holds out his hand to let Prince lick at it. "I remember," he says.

"Just because I don't drink _rocket fuel_ ," Bruce grumbles, and Jason grins and leans back against him.

"Breakfast?" Jason asks.

"Can't," Bruce says. "I'm already running late, actually." At Jason's glare, Bruce promises, "I'll get something in the cafeteria at work, I promise."

"Uh-huh," Jason says. He sets his coffee down so he can kiss Bruce goodbye, and Bruce should maybe feel strange about doing this in front of Harvey, but he doesn't really. Then Prince starts whining in Jason's arms, and Bruce sighs and looks down at him. "Yes," he says, patting the dog's head. "Goodbye to you, too."

Jason and Harvey laugh him out the door.

 

*

 

Harvey and Bruce are on the couch watching the Red Sox game they recorded earlier when Jason comes downstairs from getting ready. He's going out with Dick and the rest of his friends tonight, and he's dressed in jeans and a shirt that looks painted on, his eyes are done up with blue glittery eyeliner, and he's wearing a little silver hoop in his ear with a blue stud in the middle. He stands in front of them and asks, "You sure you guys don't want to come? Drinks, dancing, and… well, Dick Grayson."

Bruce tugs on Jason's arm, pulls him down into his lap and kisses his chin. Harvey's trying to pay attention to the _game_ , but -

"You sure I can't convince you to _stay_?" Bruce asks.

"Yep," Jason says, laughing. He pushes his hand through Bruce's hair. "You know how Dick gets. _We never do stuff together, Jason._ "

"Didn't you work with him today?" Bruce asks.

"Uh-huh," Jason says. "Anyway." He tugs Bruce in for a kiss, and Harvey watches them, the way Bruce's hand curls around the back of Jason's neck, the way Jason's hand fists in Bruce's t-shirt. Then Jason's phone starts playing "Spice Up Your Life" and he groans and pulls back. "Gotta go," he says. He looks over at Harvey. "Don't let him near the stove or the microwave. Order a pizza if you guys get hungry."

"I'm not that -" Bruce starts.

"You got it," Harvey says. Jason grins and waves both of them goodbye before rushing out the door.

"Jesus," Harvey says. He's entirely forgotten about the game at this point.

"Hm?" Bruce asks.

"Just," Harvey says. He takes a swallow from his beer. Sox are up, and he hears Jason's car pull out of the driveway. "Don't know how you even let him out of the door looking like that."

"Like what?" Bruce asks. Harvey looks over at him, licks his lips.

"Come on, man. Like a hot little twink somebody else could snatch right up."

Bruce chuckles, shakes his head. "You have nothing to worry about, Harvey," Bruce says. "And neither do I."

Harvey nods, and they get back to the game. They order a pizza after a while, and Harvey scoops up all the olives Bruce picked off his. They put a movie on then, some historical drama Harvey has nothing like the patience to follow, and sometime in the middle of it Harvey falls asleep.

When he wakes up, the TV's off and Jason's home. He and Bruce are somewhere nearby, and Jason's giggling and saying Bruce's name, too loud to be anything but _drunk_. Harvey sits up, turns around and sees them standing by the staircase.

"I missed you," Jason says. He slips his thumbs in Bruce's belt loops and leans his head up to look at him.

"I missed you, too," Bruce says. "Let's get you to bed. How many drinks did you _have_?"

"Well," Jason slurs. "It was Kara's birthday, so," he counts on his fingers. "Six?"

"Ah," Bruce says. "Yes. Time for bed."

"But -" Jason starts, but Bruce doesn't listen, just throws Jason over his shoulder. Jason giggles, tips his head up and waves at Harvey when he sees that he's awake. "Hey Harvey!"

"Hey, kiddo," Harvey says. Bruce turns to look back at him.

"Sorry if we woke you up," he says.

"No worries," Harvey says. "You have fun tonight?"

"Loads!" Jason says. "Wait. Bruce, put me down."

Bruce grunts, but complies, and Jason moves back over toward Harvey, bounces onto the couch and starts telling him all about his night. Harvey can barely follow - Harvey doesn't _know_ half these people - but it's nice to be included. Bruce stands behind Jason while he talks, rubbing his back in little circles and petting his hands through his hair.

"Jay," Bruce says when Jason starts getting tongue twisted and repeating himself. Jason tilts his head back to look at him. "Hm?"

"We should all get to sleep," Bruce says. "It's late."

"I know," Jason says. He grins at Harvey. "I'm giving Harvey his bedtime story."

Harvey snorts. "First time the word _bodyshots_ featured in a bedtime story for me."

"Well, you live here now," Jason says. "Things are different."

"Yeah," Harvey says. "They are."

They both go quiet then, and Bruce's hand stills in Jason's hair, and then Jason blinks his sleepy eyes at him, eyeliner smudged all the way up to his eyebrows and glitter on his nose, and says, "Actually. I am pretty tired." He wriggles around and holds his arms out to Bruce. "Bed?"

"Yes," Bruce says. He scoops Jason up in his big arms and Harvey says, "Good night," and watches them head up the stairs.

They aren't quiet tonight. They haven't been since he got here.

 

*

 

Jason wakes up to the sound of an acoustic guitar. At first he thinks Bruce left his alarm clock on, but when he rolls over to check (nearly squashing Prince in the process), Bruce is gone and his alarm is off. He pulls his boxers on and crawls out of bed, groaning when a burst of sunlight hits him right in the eyes. He pads downstairs after the sound and finds Harvey near the stairway, eyes closed while he sings.

For a minute, Jason just stands there and listens. Harvey's whole face changes when he sings, the lines in the corner of his eyes seeming smaller somehow. His voice is low like whiskey but he strums harder as the song picks up, and Jason's breath catches when Harvey opens his eyes and looks at him.

Then Harvey grins at him and says, "Afternoon, stranger. Did I wake you up?"

"Hey," Jason says. "Um, you don't - you don't have to stop."

"It's fine," Harvey says. He flexes his hands. "Old bones get tired after a while, anyway."

"You're not that old," Jason says. He licks his lips. Harvey's wearing jeans and a Blondie t-shirt, and Jason feels underdressed in just his boxers.

"Yeah, well, I've kind of lived a life," Harvey says.

"Yeah," Jason says. 

Harvey puts his guitar away, then turns back to look at him. "Seems like you had fun last night."

"Maybe," Jason laughs. "I don't remember a lot of it. I was kind of -"

"Plastered?" Harvey teases.

"Just a smidge," Jason says.

"Well, lucky for you, I remember everything, because you told us," Harvey says, winking.

"Heh," Jason says. He feels Harvey's eyes on him when he rubs at the bruise on his neck. "Sorry if I was a little too much. Drunk me is… a bit like Dick sober, actually."

"Nah," Harvey says. "You're cuter."

Jason blushes. They stand there for a while, watching each other, and then Jason clears his throat and says, "I'm gonna - get dressed and make some lunch. You want anything?"

"Sure," Harvey says. "Whatever you're making."

Jason nods and goes upstairs to take a shower. While he's getting dressed, he writes half a dozen different texts to Bruce, but he deletes them all and texts Dick instead. _i'm banning birthday parties. forever_ Dick texts him back with a frowny face and a balloon emoji, followed by a set of emojis that Jason can't begin to understand.

Bruce calls around three before Jason has to go to work. "How is everyone?" he asks.

"Pretty good," Jason says. He and Harvey are both outside with the dogs. Prince is in Jason's lap, and Titus is looking suspiciously at a ball Harvey just threw for him. "Alfred's making dinner tonight, so you don't have to worry about anything."

"Wonderful," Bruce says. "How's Harvey?"

Jason looks over at him. Harvey's now rolling around in the grass with Titus, letting him pull at his shirt sleeve and jump all over him. Harvey's laughing and covered in grass and Jason can't get the stupid smile off his face.

"He's good, Bruce," Jason says. "We're all really good."


End file.
